Pre-Disney

I thought I would put this together after a lot of people asked me what they need to pack. I may well have forgotten something – if so, post a comment and I will add it to the list. The list is mostly aimed at guys as that is what I know about but it may be useful for girls who can follow the same general idea.

In 7 days time I will have arrived in Orlando International Airport and hopefully be about to get on my way to Vista Way and start a fantastic summer.

It is really starting to hit home now that I am about to leave again. I am beginning to worry that this summer might not live up to my expectations. Last summer was the best of my life; fantastic friends, fantastic experiences, and a fantastic role. I wonder whether it can really be repeated? I hope so. My thoughts are also turning to roommates for the summer, I got really lucky last year despite being in a 4-bed apartment, something that before I went I really was not looking forward to. I really hope I get as lucky this year, a few less roommates would be nice but if they are nice I am not too bothered.

I have spent the last 6 months chatting to people all over the country and the world. Many of whom I will meet for the first time on the 21st. I already know people on my flight, people who flew out on the 2nd as well as all the people I met last year who are either still out there or are going back again. This was something I did not do last year and hopefully this will mean I will know a lot more people in those first few days this year. It also helps that I know what to expect.

I am having the age-old debate about whether to take bedding with me and what I should wear for Traditions. You would think having done it once the whole process would be much more relaxed but I still worry that I might get it wrong! At the moment the decision is that I will take sheets but not bedding and a smart pair of trousers, short-sleeved shirt and tie – just to let you know!

Plans for Sunday are starting to fall into place. My dad is taking me to Gatwick in the morning. I am aiming to get to the airport at about 8.00 to give myself plenty of time to check-in, get through security and meet up with the other people on my flight. My plan is to wear my Disney College Program hoody from last year so at least the others will be able to recognise me even if I can’t find them! Good-old facebook has let us exchange phone numbers so hopefully finding the others will be relatively stress-free. The others on my flight seem really nice so hopefully the 9 hours should go relatively quickly. A few of us have decided to book Mears shuttles from the airport so that we avoid the lines and get to Vista quickly – as much as I love MCO, I like Vista more!

I had a little bit of a scare today. I was checking through all of my documents and I suddenly realised that I needed to take my Social Security card from last year with me. I thought I had carefully filed it upon my return last year. Apparently not! A lot of searching later I did eventually find it in a different file, under the completely wrong section so panic over. This year I am definitely making sure that it goes back in the right place! At least I saved myself from another early morning visit to the Social Security office – that would not have been fun.

Packing starts tomorrow – I have decided I really can’t put it off any longer. I have no doubt that there will be a load of things that I have forgotten and a shopping spree at some point this week is likely inevitable. Good luck to all of those packing this week and if nothing else don’t forget the essentials especially sunscreen and sunglasses.